Indictment of 17 Individuals Announced

Guillermo Gil, United States Attorney, District of Puerto Rico; Jane M. Erickson, Assistant Special Agent in Chargeof Public Corruption matters for the FBI in Puerto Rico; Donald Reid, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Department of Education, and Manuel Diaz Saldana, Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico, announced today the indictment of the following individuals:

Victor Fajardo-Velez, former Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Education(PRDE)

Jose Omar Cruz-Mercado, Associate Secretary of the PRDE

Maria Ramos-Matos, also known as "Bibi," representative for National Consulting Group

Ruperto Vazquez-Lopez, President of RV Research and Management Group, Inc.

According to the indictment, between 1994 and September, 2000, the defendants conspired to unlawfully attempt to obstruct and affect commerce by extortion and to obtain monies for defendants Victor Fajardo-Velez, Maria Ramos-Matos, Jose Omar Cruz-Mercado, Ruperto Vazquez-Lopez and Maritere Perez-Huertas. The indictment alleges that Fajardo-Velez and Cruz-Mercado kept a safe in the office of defendant Fajardo-Velez in order to stash large amounts of currency extorted from PRDE contractors. In addition, the defendant Fajardo-Velez recruited the services of his sister-in-law, defendant Maria Ramos-Matos and RupertoVazquez-Lopez to act as main representatives of two corporations in order to divert PRDE funds as well as extortion money paid by different contractors of PRDE.

It is further alleged that Fajardo-Velez and Cruz-Mercado requested from PRDE contractors approximately 10% of their total contract amount. The payment was to be made in cash or by the payment of outstanding invoices of their political party. Between 1995 and 2000, defendant Fajardo-Velez awarded approximately $138,060,396.00, in contracts to four corporations owned by other defendants. In returned, Fajardo-Velez was paid $745,000.00 in kickbacks. In addition, on October 10, 2000, defendant Jesus Emilio Rivexa delivered to co-defendant Ramos-Matos a check for $750, 000.00 made payable to National Consulting, subsequently defendant Fajardo-Velez used the money to purchase a property that Rivera owned at Highway #2, Villa Caparra Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. Moreover, between October 1996, and June 2000, defendants Fajardo-Velez, and Cruz-Mercado demanded from defendants cash and the payment of invoices of expenses incurred by their political party totaling approximately $460,339.00. It is also alleged that Fajardo and Crux Mercado extorted approximately $4.3 million from pRDE contractors.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI San Juan, and the Office of Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Department of Education, in coordination with the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico and the United States Attorney's Office.

Penalties for convictions of the offenses alleged in the indictment, range from 10 years to 20 years. The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial and the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.